The New York Times offers an article noting that $500,000, the new pay cap for top executives of TARP banks, isn't much. By one estimate, it takes $123,322 to live the same middle-class life in NYC as someone earning $50,000 in Houston. So the new cap is essentially like asking a Houston resident to get by on just over $200,000 a year. The costs of the Manhattan life, especially with kids, are especially extreme at the high end; the private schooling and whatnot can really add up.

But you have to figure that these executives have banked millions of dollars, even with the market turmoil. So it's not like they'll be forced back in with their parents anytime soon. But depending on how long they keep the TARP funds, they may have to start paring back. They may not be able to sustain a super-rich lifestyle indefinitely. No one likes dipping into their savings, especially when those savings have been hit hard. 

For more:
- here's the article on Manhattan living

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